A group of scientists
are seen cheerfully unloading their gear, all ready for their stint at
the pole. Everyone's happy and we get to meet all the main characters.
Paxton-Pullman arrives via chopper, shouting as he climbs out at his goofy
geek sidekick (played by that goofy geek sidekick guy) to grab the equipment
and "not break it this time!"

The sky is impossibly
blue. Cut to scene with scientists cavorting with penguins.

Meanwhile Hunt-Fonda,
having been there already for a year, won't come out of the quonset-hut
lab, where she's engaged in "serious work." Oh yeah, she left her boyfriend
behind to come down here and bury herself in work.

David Carradine arrives,
leading a small group of "scientists" separate from the rest. He looks
suspicious. He looks really suspicious, just so you won't miss seeing
it. The others speculate on who "the spooks" are, but hey, this is the
beginning of the movie and they're distracted from their speculation when
goofy geek sidekick guy trips and drops the group's only case of somethingorother.
Damn you, goofy geek sidekick guy! A penguin arrives and everybody forgives.

The plane leaves and
ominous music swells to emphasize that they're all now pretty much screwed.
Within five minutes there's very little sun and the rest of the movie
is set pretty much in the dark. The spooks are down there to investigate
something that's been discovered by satellite several miles from the South
Pole Station. The rest of the scientists are kept in the dark (they make
puns about this) as to what's going on.

Goofy geek sidekick
guy has monitoring equipment that allows him to gradually pick up on what's
really going on down there. He tells Paxton-Pullman and Hunt-Fonda and
from then on they're a team.

Something is making
people sick. Not the main characters at first, just extras. But finally
Hunt-Fonda begins to get ill and Paxton-Pullman and goofy geek sidekick
guy have to get access to a SnoCat and go see what's up at the spook site.

Ominous music is playing
as we see Hunt-Fonda lying in a cot, alone and sick. Something must be
just outside the door. The music gets louder...

Aaaaagh!

Oh, it was just goofy
geek sidekick guy's penguin.

Meanwhile, Donald
Sutherland is in an office back in Washington, directing the spooks at
the secret site. We learn that there's been a crash of some large unidentified
craft that's leaking fluorocarbons, destroying the ozone over the pole.
He says the regular scientists might have to "succumb" to the elements
in order to preserved this secret. There's no exposition on why this needs
to be a secret, but it involves international relations. The Russians,
we find out, are our allies, and their scientists bring over supplies
from their station.

But, get this, our
enemies are... the Chinese! Of course! They're trying to get to the crash
site too so they can claim the technology (and implicitly the technological
advantage of the century).

(Insert Russians bring
vodka and getting drunk here)

But Paxton-Pullman
and goofy geek sidekick guy manage to strap infrared cameras and audio
recording equipment to a group of emperor penguins and herd them towards
the crash site. The penguins overwhelm the site in a combo dramatic/slapstick
scene, with spooks trying to catch the penguins and the penguins beaming
back video and sound to Paxton-Pullman and goofy geek sidekick guy. They
capture enough as proof that they high-five. Alright! Woohoo!

Now it's a race/chase
back to the station where they must transmit the truth back to Hunt-Fonda's
ex-boyfriend, who's a scientist too! But a good guy who's standing by,
ready to expose the truth!

Hunt-Fonda is really,
really sick now. She's not wearing any makeup at this point and looks
as bad as a normal person. She must somehow muster the strength to contact
her ex-bf, having to go outside and rewire a transmitter tower (The spooks
had cut the wire! The bastards!).

The last file is sent
just as the spooks arrive back at the station with guns. They receive
a message from Donald Sutherland saying, "Let go. Just let it go." And
all dejected like, realize that now the whole world is going to know about
the site and the technology will have to be shared among all nations,
bringing peace and prosperity and an end to their cool, elite spook jobs.

The Russians also
have some of whatever it was that goofy geek sidekick guy dropped and
spilled early on and lo and behold - it cures Hunt-Fonda.